For Those who Reed and Right
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.
Let's face! it! - English is a crazy language.
5 Comments:
I'll share this with my Grandchildren. It will make for lively discussion I'm sure.
Stay warm!
It's no wonder that immigrants have so much trouble mastering it! Then again, we have to learn male and female versions of the same words in several other tongues. . .
And that was another reason I dropped out...
Loved creative writing though. In 3rd Grade our teacher told us about Poetic License. But evidently not enough.
That night at the dinner table I shared my new knowledge with my 5 older siblings and Ma and Pa. I then asked, "Mom can you take me tomorrow to get a Poetic License"?
They wouldn't tell me why they all were laughing. They never told me much, being the Baby and all.
Peace.
Hahahaaaahaha. That's great.
John, this is utterly cool.
You're right. It must seem like insanity to someone trying to learn our language.
Post a Comment
<< Home